The startup ecosystem is like a puzzle. To draw a picture, there are many pieces that need to be combined with each other.
Translated to the startup world, these elements look like this: Founders, accelerators, mentors, from students with just an idea but a lot of passion and courage, to serial entrepreneurs, investors, early stage investors and business angels, and big check type funds. Community builders, conferences, and the list goes on. All these elements are essential for a well-functioning ecosystem and a complete picture.
In today’s article, I would like to focus on the important factors from an investor’s perspective.
With 16 years of experience in entrepreneurship and investing, Elizabeth Yin is an early stage investor from Silicon Valley. With experience ranging from studying electrical engineering at Stanford to working at Google to founding tech startups, running the 500 Global Program Accelerator, and mentoring startups, she says her strengths lie in helping very early-stage founders with knowledge. I thought this was something that could be supported with funds. . So, seven years ago, she founded Hustle Her Fund, a fund that invests in pre-revenue early stage startups.
To date, Hustle Fund has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide. In addition to the fund, Elizabeth and her team have built Angel Squad, her 1500 active member angel investor community from 40 countries.
In this exclusive interview in collaboration with Reflect Festival, we had the opportunity to discuss with Elizabeth about her early project investment strategy, her views on the Central and Eastern European startup scene, and her recommendations for founders.
If you would like to meet Elizabeth Yin in person, she will be speaking at the Reflect Festival in Limassol, Cyprus on May 30th and 31st. She will also be participating in a private gathering of judges and investors for the festival’s startup competition, She Reflects X.
About Hustle Fund
With many years of investments across continents, Hustle Fund is a global support for early-stage startups.
“We invest all over the world, including Western Europe, and are willing to look anywhere. We have an open application process and will consider what comes along.”
Elizabeth explains.
The fund’s investment thesis revolves around very early-stage startups, with investments ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 primarily in areas such as software, enterprise SaaS, fintech, and digital health. .
Elizabeth explains the rationale behind this focus: So even if we are the only investor, with our capital we should definitely be able to launch a software product and grow it to some level. ”
The fund is open to considering more startups, so founders can contact or submit applications through the Hustle Fund website.
“We’re really excited about the Reflect Festival because we don’t usually get to see many companies from Central Europe. If companies from this region hear about us and are interested in applying, we’d love to consider them. I’ll enjoy having this.”
Challenges and opportunities in different ecosystems
Throughout her career, Elizabeth met with founders from various continents, including Europe. She highlighted the fact that information on how to set up a company differs from country to country. “As a founder, San Francisco allows me to network and participate in all kinds of circles and learn from people who have built multi-billion dollar companies. I can also find best practices online to reference. I think in other countries, this information is still top secret.”
The same is true for every state in the United States. “If you go to a small city in the United States, you’re probably going to have the same problems that founders in other countries have,” she added.
But what is common everywhere is the problem that startups face when building their companies. “Many people think that startups have different problems in different countries, but they are actually the same. You’re trying to figure out who’s willing to pay for it and who’s willing to pay for it. Obviously the details are different, but the fundamental problem is the same,” Elizabeth observes.
Lessons and advice for founders
Considering the number of portfolio companies Hustle Fund has and Elizabeth’s experience, it’s no surprise that over 40,000 pitch decks have been analyzed.
“I think most of the pitch decks I see at this stage are terrible. Even in companies that I end up investing in, that’s fine. Early stage investors are bad. I guess I’m used to bad pitch decks because it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a business.”
Elizabeth mentions.
She also makes a good point for founders when it comes to preparing pitch materials. “I think the best pitch I’ve seen at this stage is that the founders are already doing a lot of work and talking to potential customers. Even if there’s no revenue, there’s no sales. Even if you don’t have a contract or anything, there’s one thing you should avoid.
“Some of the founders have submitted very long reports, close to 100 pages. They should never have done that level of work. This is not a doctoral dissertation.”
But instead of spending too much time on huge slides, Elizabeth and other mentors recommend moving quickly, even if the product isn’t perfect.
“Founders end up wasting a lot of time because they don’t know what the simplest thing they need to build for their customers. But by contrast, the smartest founders , even if they don’t build the product, they pick up the phone and make 40 calls and manually test something with those people. Focus on understanding how to make the most of your time.”
Do you have this problem?You are not alone
In addition to being one of the first investors, Hustle Fund is proud to be one of the founder’s first mentors and supporters.
“I usually have a sense of what the problems are going to be for a company over the next three to six months based on how they talk to me and what’s going on. When customers and investors sound excited, founders can get overly excited,” Elizabeth explains.
Besides customers and investors, founders actually face another dimension, she observes. “I think one of the main problems that a lot of first-time founders have is around recruitment. Big companies have that too, but I think it’s even more difficult for startups. They don’t have a budget and they have nothing to offer. It’s sales’ job to convince potential employees to work with them. Most founders have never been managers before, so they learn how to be good managers themselves. I don’t know. I was definitely a terrible manager when I first started managing people.”
If you would like to meet Elizabeth Yin in person, she will be speaking at the Reflect Festival in Limassol, Cyprus on May 30th and 31st. She will also be participating in a private gathering of judges and investors for the festival’s startup competition, She Reflects X.
